


Haven't Had Enough

by fernitron007



Series: Trench Inspired. [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Fremione - Freeform, Marianas Trench - Freeform, Yule Ball, goblet of fire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-12 17:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4488120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fernitron007/pseuds/fernitron007
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things at the Yule Ball went a little differently. Would this have an effect on what happens in Hermione's 5th year? Well, probably. Now it's Hermione's turn to dazzle Fred.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, guys. This one is a bit longer than the others, i still haven't finished it (which is weird, because i normally post finished work), so this one is still in the making. This fic was inspired in "Haven't Had Enough" by Marianas Trench. Maybe you can't see it now, but you ultimately will!
> 
> "But I still want ya, want ya, don't mean to taunt ya  
> If you leave now, I'll come back and haunt ya  
> You'll remember, return to sender now, now"

 

She had laughed when he gallantly asked her to save a dance for him. She hadn’t thought it was serious, she’d just pushed it to the back of her mind with all of his other jokes. She had enough on her plate; worrying about Harry getting through the tasks, knitting hats for the elves that hadn’t been freed yet, attending class and getting her homework done, the Ball had been the less of her worries.

Yet here she was, at the Yule Ball, slow dancing with Fred Weasley. When Fred had appeared before them to claim his dance, Viktor had said he didn’t mind at all, but in the middle of the song, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Ron sulking in a corner, looking at her as if she had betrayed him.

“Looks like my little brother can’t handle the pressure.” whispered Fred into her ear as he pulled her closer.

“What pressure are you talking about?” she asked, feeling confused. Dancing with Fred didn’t feel as weird as she thought it would.

“He can’t handle the fact that it took him three years to realize he’s got competition,” he answered as he twirled her around. At this, Hermione let out a hearted laugh.

“Competition for what?”

“Ah, it’s not a matter of what, but a matter of whom.” She still looked puzzled, so he decided subtlety would not work with her.

“I’m referring to the number of suitors lined up for you tonight.” Hermione looked taken aback and her face mimicked a giant interrogation mark, so he sighed and decided to explain.

“Well, for one we have the international quidditch player, Viktor Krum,” he said, nodding towards where Krum was sitting with a few of his friends. “Draco Malfoy hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you all night,” he jerked his head towards Malfoy, who was listening to Pansy Parkinson talk and discretely glancing at Hermione when he thought no one was looking. “Goldstein, Boot, and that bloke over there,” he added, pointing at each one with a slight movement of his head as he named then. She still hadn’t said anything and let him sway her to the music. “Oh, and you have me too. So that’s about… seven, including my little brother.” He concluded, as if it were something obvious.

Hermione had turned scarlet and looked like she was about to ask him something else, but instead managed to answer in a steady voice in spite of her shiny eyes.

“What are you playing at, Fred?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, just being truthful. I fancy you, Hermione.”

She looked like she was holding back tears. “Oh, and that doesn’t have anything to do with me being in this dress and these heels, having spent hours on my hair and makeup, looking half decent for one night?” She was no longer whispering. They had stopped moving and were just standing in the middle of the dancefloor surrounded by dancing couples attempting to eavesdrop.

“No, Hermione. Come on, don’t be like that. You know it’s not like that, calm down.” He whispered urgently, not wanting everybody to see her reject him this way. She was not going to calm down, she couldn’t, but if she started yelling at him right there, she would start crying. So instead she stomped off, not afraid to wipe the tears from her eyes, and hoped he wouldn’t follow her. She didn’t want anyone to follow her.

Fred stood there, in the middle of the Great Hall, at a loss for words as he watched Hermione run off to who knows where. He didn’t know whether to follow her or not. It dawned on him that she probably wanted to be alone so he chose the latter, hoping he could talk to her in the morning. He came back to his senses a few seconds later and approached his twin who was sitting at one of the tables with Angelina.

“I’m guessing that didn’t go well?” His brother asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, shut up, George.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter, but it felt like it finished here and i just went with it!


	2. II

 

He sat in the Common Room the next morning, hoping to talk to Hermione before she went down to breakfast. To his luck, she appeared a few minutes later sporting puffy eyes and a red nose. She tried not to look at him and headed for the portrait but he blocked her way. “I’m not letting you go to breakfast until you listen to what I have to say.”

She looked like she was about to run for it, but instead held her ground and nodded. He led her to one of the chairs near the fireplace and she fell into her favorite one, not looking at him. “Hermione?” He started, not knowing exactly what to say. She looked at him and her expression softened, making him feel a bit more secure that she wasn’t going to run away. “Hey, I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to make you feel like that. That did not go as I had planned.” She looked surprised. “You planned that?” “Well, yeah.” He said, rubbing the nape of his neck in embarrassment. “I’d wanted to tell you for some time now and thought it would be the perfect opportunity, but I think you misunderstood me.” She blushed and nearly smiled. “I’m sorry, Fred. You surprised me, you sprung it on me like it was the most natural thing in the world. At the time I couldn’t process anything and thought you were about to prank me or something.”

“But it is the most natural thing in the world! I fancy you, I really do. And it has nothing to do with a dress or with makeup. I swear. But I understand if you don’t feel the same.” He said, trying not to sound too disheartened.

“I’m sorry, Fred. But I don’t feel that way about you. I mean, you’re Ron’s brother, you’re Ginny’s brother. You’re like my brother too. I don’t think about you that way. I couldn’t, I can’t.” She ended, not really knowing how to say it without hurting his feelings. “It’s okay, Hermione.” He said, looking crestfallen. “I’ll see you around?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” He said, trying to smile truthfully. She tried to smile too, kissed him lightly on the cheek and rushed through the portrait hole and down to breakfast.

When Hermione got down to breakfast, she was happy to see that there was no one at the Gryffindor table. As she sat down, dishes started to appear around her and she loaded her plate with a few pieces of toast. She didn’t feel like eating, but thought she might try anyway. Her stomach was still flipping after talking with Fred. How was it possible that she hadn’t even noticed Fred liked her? Sure, he’d flirt with her, but Fred was flirty, so she hadn’t thought it was important. He would get over it, surely it was just a little crush. She still felt horrible about how she had treated him last night though. It was probably because she was a bit delicate due to the glass of firewhisky Krum had offered her earlier on. She vowed to never accept firewhisky from anyone (at least until she was of age) and picked at her toast until a few Gryffindors started to enter the Hall and made her take her mind off things.

Harry and Ron were some of the last ones who entered the Great Hall. Seriously, how could they sleep so much? Ron still looked like he had his sheets stuck to his face. Harry sat beside her and greeted her wearily, but started talking to her normally once he noticed she wasn’t in a bad mood. Ronald sat on the other side of Harry and didn’t speak to her, instead, he was deep in conversation with Dean Thomas. She didn’t mind, he had been a prat to her once he saw that she had gone to the ball with Viktor and she had no desire to fight with him.

Harry was thanking Hermione again for his Christmas present and telling her all about _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland,_ apparently he had managed to read a few chapters this morning while he waited for Ron to wake up. She was happy he liked the book and was actually reading something apart from school textbooks. They spent the rest of the day roaming around the castle because it was too cold to be outside. After dinner the three of them (she and Ron had still not exchanged more than ten words) headed up to the Common Room and sat by the fireplace. They had already exhausted the conversation between Hagrid and Madame Maxime, so Hermione was knitting more elf hats and socks as the boys caught up on the homework they had neglected during the first week of holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, apparently short chapters are a thing of mine, but I'll update quick! Comments, Kudos, suggestions, everything is welcome:D There are a few things I got out of the Goblet of Fire, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, i only own the anomalies xD


	3. III

Hermione didn’t talk much with Fred after that. It wasn’t for lack of trying, Fred had just made a habit of avoiding her whenever he could and it looked like George was following suit. After Christmas break, their teachers started giving them tons of homework and Hermione was in the library most of the time. She stopped trying to interact with Fred and focused on schoolwork and S.P.E.W. instead. Ron had gone back to normal, and she couldn’t’ve been more grateful. She went back to checking the boys’ essays, telling them off because they were behind on their homework and bugging Harry to decipher the golden egg.

February the 24th was drawing closer, and Harry told her and Ron that he had just figured out the clue. Harry turned all his attention to finding out how to survive underwater during an hour. Ron and Hermione helped as much as they could, but since they weren’t exempted from end-of-year tests, they still had to focus on their schoolwork. They searched the library during their lunchtimes, evenings and whole weekends, but found nothing.

By the evening before the second task they hadn’t found anything at all. They were in the library and Harry was talking about how he should’ve learnt to be an Animagus when the twins appeared out of nowhere.

“What’re you two doing here?” asked Ron.

“Looking for you. McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione. We’re supposed to take you down to her office.” Said George. Hermione tried to catch Fred’s eye, but he was obviously avoiding her gaze. “Why?” she asked.

“Don’t know, she looked a bit grim, though.” Answered Fred, his eyes fixed on the boys.

“Harry, we’ll meet you back at the Common Room. Bring as much of these as you can.” She pointed at the books.

“See you later, mate.” Said Ron. Harry nodded at them, sighed and continued to pour over _Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts._ She and Ron followed the twins. Ron started wondering out loud why McGonagall wanted them and George happily listed a number of reasons that sounded a lot like things the twins had done over the years. Hermione fell back without noticing, lost in thought, and Fred walked next to her. He bumped into her playfully, snapping her out of her reverie and smiled at her. She smiled back. “You don’t have to stop avoiding me just because McGonagall says so, you know that, right?” She asked lightheartedly, hiding the fact that him avoiding her had actually hurt a bit.

“We volunteered to go looking for you. I wanted to say that I’m sorry for being a git. I told you it was okay and then I go around acting like a hurt puppy and not talking to you. I really am very sorry. Would you forgive me?”

“Of course I forgive you, Fred.” She said with a smile. She suddenly felt lighter, she hadn’t noticed how much not speaking to Fred had brought her down.

They reached McGonagall’s office and the twins set off elsewhere. Ron looked at Hermione, waiting for her to go inside first. She sighed and knocked on the door.

Professor McGonagall opened the door and quickly ushered them inside. Fred was right, she did look grim.

“Ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, please take a seat.” Said Albus Dumbledore, his eyes weary. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. They did as they were told and sat in the chairs that remained unoccupied. A blonde girl she had never seen before was sitting beside her and on her right was Cho Chang, clearly as nervous and clueless as her.

“Right. I understand that neither of you know why you are here.” Dumbledore continued, as he paced behind McGonagall’s desk. “As you are aware of, the Second Task is tomorrow, and each one of you is particularly familiar with a different champion. Tomorrow, the champions must rescue the thing they will miss the most from the bottom of the lake. The magical contract that binds the champions to the Tournament clearly states that the thing the champion will miss the most must be a loved one.” Hermione exchanged worried looks with Ron, Harry still didn’t know how to survive underwater. “With your consent, I will put each of you under a bewitched sleep and you will not awake until you are back above the water.” He ended, waiting for them to ask their questions.

“But what happens if we don’t get pulled out?” asked Cho, looking rather unnerved. “Oh, do not worry, my dear! Nothing will happen to any of you. If your champion is not able to rescue you, I will take matters into my own hands.” McGonagall looked like she was about to object, but decided to look anxiously through the window instead. “We need you to sign the contract acknowledging you are aware of what will occur and that you consent it.” He said, sitting down in McGonagall’s chair and showing them a contract.

“Professor?” Said Hermione, with her hand in the air. Dumbledore chuckled. “Yes, Miss Granger?”  
“I don’t understand, Ron and I are both close to Harry, which one of us is supposed to go into the lake?” she asked, afraid of the answer. “Miss Granger, I do not doubt that you are as close to Mr. Potter as Mr. Weasley, but you would be rescued by Mr. Krum. He was not lucky as Miss Delacour, his family is still in Bulgaria.” He said, smiling at the blonde girl, whom she guessed was Fleur’s sister. Hermione’s face had turned red, but still, she nodded. She cared for Viktor, even though she only thought of him as a friend. She was the last to sign the contract.

“Well then. Please close your eyes and try to relax your body, the next time we see each other will be after the Second Task is finished.” Dumbledore said, in a kind, assuring voice.

Hermione did as she was asked, trying to relax her muscles and clear her thoughts. She felt the charm hit her in an enclosing sort of way, like she was in a bubble all of a sudden. The spell tugged at her to fall asleep, making her mind blurry (her thoughts straying towards a certain freckled smile), making her limbs heavy, she could feel it pulling every part of her body, until she finally gave in.


	4. IV

She awoke the second Viktor pulled her head out of the water. Of course she knew Viktor would be the one saving her, and even though she had agreed to Professor McGonagall, she didn’t want to be the thing Viktor would miss the most. He helped her swim towards the bank where the judges stood watching and helped her out of the lake. Madam Pomfrey wrapped them in thick blankets next to Cedric and Cho and gave them a very hot potion to drink. Cedric greeted her cheerfully as she made herself comfortable. Viktor sat next to her and after a while said “Vell, it looks like Potter is vell outside the time limit. He is the only von missing.” Hermione’s heart dropped to her stomach. Had Harry figured out how to survive underwater? Did he have a plan when he entered the lake? Viktor must have seen the worry in her face for he said “Do not vorry, Potter used Gillyveed. He vill be okay.” Somewhat glumly. Sure enough, Harry erupted with Ron and the blonde girl from the lake ten minutes later. As soon as Madam Pomfrey had stopped fussing over them, she headed towards Harry and hugged him.

“Oh, Harry! How did you find out about Gillyweed? Did it take you that long to find us?” Harry’s ears went red. “No, I found you guys okay…” Hermione stepped away from him as Fleur approached them and looked around, trying to give them some privacy. Dumbledore had just finished speaking to the chief merperson and was in a huddle with the rest of the judges. Cedric and Cho were in deep conversation. Viktor was sitting alone, alternating glances between her and the huddle of judges.

Suddenly, Ludo Bagman’s voice boomed beside them, making them all jump and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet. He said they would award marks out of fifty, and proceeded to give Fleur twenty-five points, Cedric forty-seven points, Viktor forty points and Harry forty-five points for his determination to return all of the hostages to safety. “Outstanding moral fiber” he called it. She had to laugh. Of course, count on Harry to always ‘play the hero’. She smiled at her friend and shook her head. He would never change, but she was happy he was alive.

That night, Fred and George nicked food from the kitchens and the whole house threw a party in the Common Room to celebrate Harry tying for first place with Cedric Diggory. There were mountains of cake, flagons of pumpkin juice and bottles of Butterbeer. Lee Jordan had let off some fireworks so the air was thick with stars and sparks. Everybody wanted to hear what had happened, and since Ron and Hermione had also been in the lake, Harry wasn’t getting all the attention. Hermione sensed he was pleased about this, so she told whoever asked her the story of how Dumbledore had put all of the hostages in a bewitched sleep and assured them they would be okay. After a few retellings, all of Gryffindor house knew what had happened and moved on to enjoy the food. Harry smiled at Hermione and mouthed “thanks”, knowing that Ron liked the spotlight, but Hermione preferred to be low-key, he was appreciative she had helped him.

She was in sitting in an squashy armchair, drinking a bottle of Butterbeer and absentmindedly looking at her fellow students. A few of the first years had already gone to bed, but most of the house was still awake. She felt someone sit on the armrest of her chair, but didn’t see how they got there. She looked up expecting to see Harry but was surprised to see a freckled red haired Fred sitting next to her. “Hey” He greeted, with a hint of a smile. “Hey.” She mumbled back. They sat silently for a few minutes, both pretending to be absorbed by something else other than the other.

“I’m happy you’re alive.” He said suddenly, looking through the window. She blushed generously and focused on the flames in the fireplace before speaking again. “We were never in any danger, Fred.” She looked up at him and focused on the concern in his eyes and the hint of a kind smile that she thought would appear any moment now.

“I know, but I’m happy you’re alive either way.” He said, not taking his eyes off her, with a soft sincere smile. She felt that flip in her stomach again and jumped out of her chair without warning, struggling to keep her balance. Fred eyed her suspiciously. “I think I’m going to bed, I’m really tired. Long day, being inside a lake does that to you.” She babbled, nervously, trying not to look at him.

“Goodnight, Hermione.” He managed to say before she turned around and walked stiffly towards the girls’ dormitory.

He laughed to himself after she disappeared up the stairs. The fact that he made her nervous cheered him up more than the prospect of any prank. But then he remembered that she had been Krum’s ‘thing he would miss the most’ and the feeling evaporated almost instantly.


	5. V

After the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff celebrations had died down, it seemed like every Slytherin was trying to make Harry feel miserable, again. Hermione was glad he already knew how to ignore them (Quidditch rivalries since first year, Harry had said this was nothing compared to Gryffindor/Slytherin games, or the time everybody thought he was Slytherin’s heir). Not everyone was foul towards him, though. The rest of the school had grown to accept both Hogwarts champions. Instead of bothering Harry, some students had taken to mocking her for being “the thing Viktor Krum would miss the most”. In the beginning it had bothered her, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. The only thing she dreaded was running into Viktor in the Great Hall, but it looked like Viktor had taken the hint and stopped looking for her. She was pleased he had taken the hint, but knew she would have to talk to him all the same, she owed him that much.

When March came around, she knew she would have to do it soon, so one morning she set her mind to talk to him. She went down to breakfast, willing time to go faster so she could get it over with.

Harry was already stacking his plate with eggs and bacon, joking around with the twins and Lee Jordan. She sat next to him and put a few pieces of toast on her plate. They seemed to be talking of the last Hogsmeade trip so she just picked at her breakfast and stared at it. There were only three months until June, she’d have to work up a study schedule if she wanted to pass everything while trying to help Harry through the tasks. She smiled at the thought, he hadn’t even asked for her help for the third task, but she would help him anyway. She cared more about getting him through the Tournament alive than passing all her tests. This is what it must be like to have a brother. She glanced at Harry, he had just spilled pumpkin juice on the table and was trying to mop it up with a napkin while Fred, George and Lee roared with laughter. She chuckled to herself and wondered when she had become a surrogate mother to the boys.

As they got to the dungeons, a gang of Slytherins were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door. They were all looking at something and sniggering heartily. Pansy was the first to spot them as the approached.

“There they are, there they are!” she giggled, and the Slytherins broke apart. “You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!” she said loudly, and threw the magazine at her. She caught it, but at that moment the dungeon door opened and Snape beckoned them all inside. She stuffed it inside her bag and the three of them headed for a table at the back of the dungeon. Harry and Ron wanted to read the magazine, but Hermione kept it in her bag, determined no not read it in front of the Slytherins, just in case.

She didn’t as much as peer at the magazine throughout the morning until they went down to lunch. She felt safer at Gryffindor table, so they huddled together and looked through the pages until at last, in the center pages, they found what they were looking for. A photograph of Harry and a short piece entitled Harry Potter’s Secret Heartache. Ron looked dumbfounded, Harry looked amused and Hermione felt relief. She had thought maybe it was something worse.

“I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She’s made you out to be some sort of- of scarlet woman!” hissed Ron. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and started laughing wholeheartedly. “Scarlet woman? Really, if this is the best she can do, she’s losing her touch.” Answered Hermione between giggles. Harry hadn’t stopped laughing either. She had been a bit surprised about how Rita had known about the things she talked about with Viktor, but stuffed it in the back of her mind and instead waved cheerfully at the Slytherin table. They glared back at her, she smiled and served herself some mashed potatoes.

The news about their love triangle had traveled through the school pretty fast, considering the article was published in Witch Weekly. By the time she got to the Durmstrang ship that afternoon, everybody was whispering and pointing at her. She sighed and knocked on the door, trying to not look bothered by the attention. Viktor opened the door and stared at her in astonishment. “Herm-own-ninny, vat are you doing here?” “Can we talk?” “Ov course.”

They walked along the lake and she tried to think of the best way to break the news. “Er, Viktor? I wanted to talk to you about the ball and the lake and everything.” He nodded and she proceeded “I’m sorry for neglecting you and worrying about Harry after you pulled me out of the lake, I’m sorry for avoiding you since then.” She said as clearly as she could, but in truth, she would’ve preferred to jump in the lake than have this conversation. “Are you and Potter together?” he asked surly. She let out a laugh “No, of course not. He’s like my brother, it’s not because of him. I just don’t like you that way. I hope we can still be friends?” Krum looked less sullen after she cleared that out and smiled at her. “Ov course, Herm-own-ninny.” He gave her a shy smile and accompanied her to the Hogwarts entrance where he gave her an exaggerated bow that made her laugh, and headed back to the ship.


	6. VI

It was the last week of May, May 24th to be exact, and the warm summer air flooded the Common Room, making everybody giddy. Harry had left to meet with Bagman and the rest of the champions and Hermione had grudgingly accepted a game of Wizards Chest from Ron. He had already beat her twice, but the third game was getting interesting and Ron was getting a bit nervous about her sudden knack for it.

“Check Mate!” said Ron, after what seemed like hours, with a huge grin on his face. Hermione huffed in disappointment. He probably noticed her displeasure because he immediately looked solemn. “It was a great game, Hermione. You nearly beat me more than a few times. I didn’t know you were that good!” Hermione giggled at Ron’s concern. “Oh, don’t be so modest. You are a good teacher, though.” His ears went red and beamed at the compliment.

Harry suddenly burst through the Portrait Hole looking for them, with a madness in his eyes he practically ran towards their corner and slumped in the chair between them. “Mate, what’s wrong?”

“Barty Crouch. He was at the edge of the Forrest.” Ron’s face went pale and Hermione’s eyes looked like plates. “What?” she managed to mouth. Harry went into a frenzied description of what had happened after he left the Common Room. When he mentioned a maze, Ron looked like he was about to interrupt, but Harry didn’t stop. He told them that after Bagman had informed them about the task, that Krum had asked him for a word, so they had walked towards the Forrest and had reached a quiet stretch of ground, a short way from the Beauxbaton’s horses’ paddock because Krum didn’t want to be overheard.

“Are you mental? Going off with the competition ALONE?” Ron was suddenly standing, red with anger and looked like he was about to punch something. “Calm down, Ron! Let Harry finish.” She took him by the elbow and sat him back down. Perhaps her touch had startled him, because he did as he was told and focused his attention back on Harry.

Harry didn’t tell them exactly what he had talked about with Viktor, but when he mentioned Crouch staggering out from behind a tall oak, his clothes ripped and bloody, talking to a tree as it if were Percy, Ron and Hermione were at a loss for words. “He kept calling it Weatherby, talking about the Tournament and his family, as if they were alive. But he would suddenly look lucid and said he needed to talk to Dumbledore, that he had done something stupid and needed to tell Dumbledore about it.” “But, what? What did he do?” mumbled Ron.

“I don’t know, but I told Krum to stay there and I came into the castle looking for Dumbledore. Snape didn’t want me finding him, though. ‘The Headmaster is busy, Potter’” He mimicked in a Snape like voice. “But Dumbledore came out of his office and told me to lead the way, so we got to where Krum was as fast as we could, but he was stunned and Dumbledore had to make him wake up. He said Crouch had attacked him from behind. Dumbledore called Hagrid and told him to get Karkaroff, Moody appeared a few minutes later. Then Karkaroff got really angry and spat at Dumbledore’s feet. Hagrid nearly punched him, so Dumbledore told him to bring me back to the castle but warned me not to send out any letters until tomorrow morning, so I guess I can’t tell Snuffles about this until tomorrow.”

Hermione and Ron were completely stunned with his tale, but started talking at the same time, asking Harry questions, sharing their theories. They stayed up, talking about Mr. Crouch late into the night and got up very early the next day to send a note to Sirius. They were discussing if Crouch would’ve turned up on the Marauder’s Map and thinking about visiting Moody before classes started when they heard voices.

“- That’s blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-“

“- we’ve tried being polite, it’s time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn’t like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did.”

The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione. “What’re you doing here?” Ron and Fred said at the same time.

“Sending a letter.” Said Harry and George in unison.

“What, at this time?” Said Hermione and Fred. Fred grinned and aimed a wink at Hermione. “Fine, we won’t ask you what you’re doing, if you don’t ask us.” Hermione noticed he was hiding something behind his back, but couldn’t see it. “Well, don’t let us hold you up.” He said, mocking a bow and pointing towards the door.

“Blackmail?” she asked, looking surprised. “It’s nothing, Hermione. Don’t worry.” Fred flashed her a genuine smile and nodded to her, as if begging them to leave. She answered with a subtle nod and turned around, headed to the Great Hall. “Come on, boys.” She mumbled, dragging Harry and Ron behind her.

The boys barely ate their breakfast, talking in hushed voices about Mr. Crouch and occasionally, asking themselves what the twins were up to.

“You don’t think they know something about this, do you?” Ron asked Harry, worried. “No, if it was something that serious, they’d tell someone. They’d tell Dumbledore.” Ron didn’t look too convinced.

“It’s just that… they’re obsessed with making money lately, and this joke-shop idea they’ve got. I thought they were just saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They keep saying they need to think about their future, and Dad can’t help them, they need gold to get started.” Hermione was looking uncomfortable now.

“Maybe that’s true, but they wouldn’t do anything illegal to get gold. They break rules, but they’re not criminals. Don’t worry about it.” She said, trying to convince herself as much as the boys.

The rest of the day went by slowly, even History of Magic seemed to go slower than usual. They were so tired, it took every ounce of control not to put their heads down on their desks and sleep. Hermione wasn’t even taking her usual notes, she had barely slept during the week, worrying about schoolwork and knitting garments whenever she had free time.

When the bell finally rang, Harry and Ron dashed off to the Dark Arts classroom, but Hermione was looking forward to a long nap before dinner, she could do her homework later. She lazily made her way to Gryffindor Tower and climbed through the Portrait Hole to find Fred sitting on a big couch by one of the windows looking out at the darkening sky. She must’ve made quite a lot of noise because his head whipped towards the source of the sound. He smiled and gestured her to accompany him.

So much for her nap, but at least she could get some answers from Fred. She left her bag on a table and sat next to him.

“How’re you doing? You’re all looking a bit shook up. Is everything okay?” He asked. “Oh, yeah, we’re okay. Just a bit tired, I suppose. I haven’t been sleeping a lot lately.” She said with a yawn but getting serious at once. “Are you going to tell me why I got my friends off your back?” “Wow wow, straight to business with you, Granger!” He smiled mischievously at her but answered anyway. “Okay, but you can’t tell anyone. Deal?” He outstretched his hand. She rolled her eyes but shook it anyway. “Deal.”

“Do you remember at the Quidditch World Cup that we bet Bagman that Ireland would win but Krum would catch the Snitch?” She nodded. “Well, he paid us in leprechaun gold he’d caught from the Irish mascots.”

“But, surely it must’ve been an accident, right?” Fred laughed softly. “Yeah, we thought so too at first. We thought that if we wrote to him telling him he had made a mistake, he’d pay his part…”

“But he still hasn’t, right?” She ended for him. “Nope. And I doubt we’ll be seeing more of him after the Third Task. George and I are going to see if we can corner him then, at least get our money back.”

“It’s the least he could do.” Not knowing what else to talk about, or too exhausted to talk about anything else, they sat in comfortable silence. Fred looked through the window again and she followed suit. The first stars were adorning the night sky, it was beautiful.

She woke up to a whispering Fred. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her, she was just tired.”

“She’ll sleep better in her bed.” Said another voice, it sounded like Harry. “Don’t worry, mate. Leave her be. I’ll make sure she gets to bed.” The other voice must’ve agreed because she heard footsteps climb stairs a while after. She was lying on something warm, very warm. It moved and she woke up instantly. Groggy from sleep, she could make out Fred’s frame in the dark.

“Hermione, it’s okay, it’s me. Do you want to go to bed?”

She thought about it, but couldn’t bring herself to get off the couch. “Can we stay a while longer?”

“Sure.”

She curled up against him and tried to go back to sleep as he stroked her hair. She could’ve sworn she heard his smile in the dark, but maybe she was just imagining things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! It's been a while, but i got caught up writing Pop 101 and then just couldn't find any inspiration for this. Thanks for the kudos!!! This fic has deviated quite a lot from the song inspired one shots i would originally write, but i'm actually liking where it's going, and the song did take me to this scenario, so technically, it's still inspired by it xD
> 
> Disclaimer: A lot of the conversations are extracts from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", written by non other than the gorgeous Joanne Rowling!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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